Freaky bird foot

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arlohike
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Joined: April 28th, 2014, 8:28 pm

Freaky bird foot

Post by arlohike » November 2nd, 2020, 12:49 pm

A day after Halloween, I found this disembodied bird foot on the lower part of the Wygant Trail. It was about the size of a chicken foot, and had little flaps coming off the back of each leg section, but not full webs like a duck would have.

Does anybody know what species this is, and what would have eaten it?
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squidvicious
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Re: Freaky bird foot

Post by squidvicious » November 2nd, 2020, 3:04 pm


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arlohike
Posts: 237
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Re: Freaky bird foot

Post by arlohike » November 2nd, 2020, 4:46 pm

That looks right -- thanks!

As for predators, I see that osprey or eagles will eat adult coots:

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Fulica_americana/

Actually my first thought when I saw it was that it fell out of the nest of a bird of prey, but I looked up and couldn't spot any nests.
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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Freaky bird foot

Post by Waffle Stomper » November 8th, 2020, 2:11 pm

I'll confirm with others, it is indeed the lobbed foot of an American Coot. Eagles and hawks love them.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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